Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I got up early this morning, picked up my pen and paper and had my good cup of coffee and I started writing down my notes on what I wanted to say about this motion. The first thing I did was get a list of the energy priorities investment for 2010. The last government committed $60 million to the projects.
Mr. Hawkins has made several references to this priority list.
I looked at it and I put it on the floor, and said this is where the regions are getting the projects. This is where we committed $60 million, and that money just came out of the air. This is where we’re going to put the projects.
Mr. Speaker, the high cost of living is in the northern part of the Northwest Territories, up in Ulukhaktok, Sachs, Paulatuk, Tuk, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik, McPherson in the Sahtu. It becomes a little bit cheaper as you go down south. I looked at this and said, okay, where did the government spend the $60 million. The majority of the funding was spent just south, Wrigley and south. We had a few projects up in Tuk for wind power. We had Norman Wells, and looking at the natural gas conversion, if there ever is going to be a pipeline going to be built, that’s what they will be looking at. We have solar panel heating in our swimming pools in Tulita and Norman Wells. Deline has looked at the Bear River hydro for the last 16 years. Even in their plan on energy with the government, it talks about energy for the future. It talks about Deline looking at being in the construction mode. Hopefully in 2014 could see the first hydro power from the development on the Bear River being utilized for the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline for compressor stations or other future industrial developments. In 2020-25, building the corridor established by the Bear River developing power from the Mackenzie River could be explored for southern markets.
So we did talk about this. It is in the plan. There is a plan, but we have to update it, of course. I don’t know where the Mackenzie Gas Project is now today. So we need to update it. There is a transmission gridline going up the Mackenzie Valley beyond Fort Simpson, past Wrigley, Tulita to Norman Wells and they’ve got some other projects going up further there.
I see this as an opportunity if we ever, ever have a chance to get another gift like the $60 million, I certainly hope that the projects go beyond Fort Simpson. We certainly need the money in the Bear River. They’ve been waiting for almost 17 years to get a hydro project going there.
I encourage people, the Northwest Territories, to look at this and see for yourself and come to your own conclusions as to where the projects and the money went. It had its reasons. I say this motion here, if we ever have an option again, look at the projects and see where they can be invested to help our people. Look at Norman Wells. It’s a crying shame that this government here cannot say to Norman Wells we will help you. They desperately need our help. It’s going to cost residents in my riding and Norman Wells to covert, because Imperial decides they are going to shut their power,
natural gas, off. These are real people, Mr. Speaker. Real people from the Sahtu.
Inuvik also has the same situation. This government should have had a few bucks in its back pocket to say we’re going to help you. You know? They’ve got projects going other places that we could have used. The Bear River hydro transmission line could have been built, could have gone up to Norman Wells and they could have had power cheap. They would have had energy in Tulita and Norman Wells. It’s about a $10 million hydro initiative. We could have put the power line in. We spent $13 million where? On Taltson? For what? We don’t even have a power purchase from the mining companies.
So we need to look at those things that make sense to our people. We need to think of some of the realities here. I think that if we ever get the chance… There’s a saying, if we ever get to do it again, what would I do. I’m hoping that... We’ll, I’m hoping I’m in Cabinet so I can make some decisions.
---Laughter
Real decisions to see where these types of energy initiatives can go. I know, Mr. Speaker, my friends across will have a lot of fun with that.
I want to say, in reality these types of projects that Mr. Bromley has put through this motion make sense. We need to serve our people. We have also done a lot of good things in the communities. I’m glad that we subsidized the power rates in our communities. That’s what we need to do. Sometimes we need to bite the bullet and say this is what we’re going to do. I’m sure glad that people recognize that it’s helping our people with the cost of living. It’s ridiculous to pay $2.46 a kilowatt in Colville Lake and they’re sitting on a natural gas field. They could do a lot if we had the energy and the money to produce that natural gas field for power in Norman Wells or their own community.
The energy initiative that has gone out to the different communities like Liard, geothermal, Yellowknife geothermal, the hydro at Bluefish, the wood pellets, Fort Simpson with the district heating, Fort McPherson district heating, all of these are good projects, but it’s a real crying shame that there’s not too much happening in the Sahtu except studies and studies and studies. Oh yeah, we have two solar panels for our swimming pool. Swimming pools are what? June, July, August and then that’s it. We need to put some real money into some of these community projects. The Bear River needs to go. We have to have the Bear going here. It will help us a lot. Just like we have Lutselk’e and Whati. We need that also.
I want to say that I thank Mr. Bromley for bringing this motion up to give us some discussion, some air time, and let the people know what we think about
the energies in the Northwest Territories, where the priorities are, and what some of our passion is for our community to bring the cost of living down and to know this territory can do a lot of good. It could bring the power down. We could bring the rates down. Gear that money right towards where it is.